Podcast: What North Korea wants

Reuters Staff

2 Min Read

North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un watches a military drill marking the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People's Army (KPA) in this handout photo by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) made available on April 26, 2017. KCNA/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. EDITORIAL USE ONLY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THIS IMAGE. NO THIRD PARTY SALES. SOUTH KOREA OUT.

Pyongyang launches missile test after missile test. A carrier strike group moves through the Pacific with its sights set on the peninsula. U.S. President Donald Trump has called the entirety of the U.S. Congress to attend a briefing on the North Korean threat on April 26, 2017. And Seoul faces an election that could dramatically change the country’s relationship to both its neighbor to the north and its oldest ally.

But what does North Korea want?

This week on War College, B.R. Meyer will help us figure that out. Meyer is a professor of literature and international studies at Dongseo University in Busan, South Korea. He’s visited the north, speaks the language, and reads the literature and propaganda alike. He takes Pyongyang at its word when it says it wants to reunify the peninsula and he’s not hopeful for the future.